Winter 2021 Arrives

 

Earlier today winter arrived in Atlanta and the Northern Hemisphere. That event as well as the drizzle and an afternoon temperature of 42 degrees is more than enough to awaken thoughts of sub-freezing temperatures, howling winds and depths of drifting snow measured in feet. In fact there's a 325 year-old song - a much older legend as well - where Cupid rouses Cold Genius, the spirit of Winter, to assist King Arthur in a search for his fiance, Princess Emmeline. Cold Genius is not particularly happy being awakened from his icy slumber. It is a surprisingly modern sounding piece of work from the semi-opera, King Arthur, by Henry Purcell and librettist, John Dryden.

What power art thou, who from below,

Hast made me rise unwillingly and slow,

From beds of everlasting snow?

See'st thou not how stiff and wondrous old,

Far, far unfit to bear the bitter cold,

I can scarcely move or draw my breath;

Let me, let me freeze again to death.

Personally I don't look forward to cold temperatures, ice, assorted freezing slop, and black snow lining city streets for the next two months. On the other hand, the thought of lengthening days that arrived with yesterday's solstice brings a big smile to my face. This rebirth of the sun has brought happiness to humans for quite a long time.

The Newgrange Tumulus in County Meath, Ireland, is a nice illustration of this long-standing respect for the rebirth of light and warmth to a culture. The burial mound has a passage that aligns perfectly with the winter solstice sunrise. People have observed the illumination of the keystone at Newgrange long before Stonehenge and the Giza pyramids existed.

For the next six months the sun will climb a bit higher every day in the Northern Hemisphere. We won't notice heat from the "rebirth" of the sun until a month or so into this cycle. While the lengthening days can give us hope that the "dead season" will soon come to an end, we can still enjoy the experience of a world at quiet rest.

At the same time, I have a feeling most of us hope that Cold Genius sleeps peacefully for most of the season.


Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
Newgrange aerial photo, worldheritageireland.ie
Newgrange plan and section, public domain illustration, William Frederick Wakeman, Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Heritage (1903), archives.org